Table of Example UCUM Codes for Electronic Messaging Now Available

Good stuff from Regenstrief (as always)!

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The LOINC Development Team is very pleased to announce the availability of a new table of example UCUM codes for use in HL7 and other electronic messages: http://loinc.org/usage/units

This is a draft enumeration of The Unified Code for Units of Measure (UCUM), designed to make it clear what the UCUM syntax would produce for specific unit patterns in electronic communication. This table was compiled by the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with content contributions from Intermountain Healthcare and the Regenstrief Institute. You can read more about how this table was developed in the Preface that is also available from the LOINC website.

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We hope you find this new resource helpful. As always, we welcome feedback...just send your comments to: loinc@regenstrief.org
Happing LOINCing!

Daniel J. Vreeman, PT, DPT, MSc
Assistant Research Professor, Indiana University School of Medicine
Research Scientist, Regenstrief Institute, Inc

ISO+ to UCUM Mapping Table

Several years ago I was the editor of the HL7 Claims attachments specifications.  As a result of that effort, I created a mapping table from ISO+ Units to UCUM units.  ISO+ units are commonly used in HL7 Version 2 lab messages, while UCUM is a newer standard developed by the Regenstrief Institute that is required for use in CDA Release 2 and in other HL7 Version 3 standards, and was selected by ANSI/HITSP for the communication of unit information.  A much shorter list was eventually used in the claims attachment guides, but I ran across the data I generated the other day and thought I would share it here.

Please note the disclaimer:  I am not an expert on ISO+, UCUM or laboratory units in general.  Therefore, you should validate this data before using it in any clinical applications.

ISO+ Units needing a Mapping

ISO+	UCUM	ISO+	UCUM	ISO+	UCUM	ISO+	UCUM
(arb_u)	[arb'U]	10.un.s/(cm5.m2)	dyn.s/(cm5.m2)	iu/mL	[iU]/mL	mL/hr	mL/h
(bdsk_u)	[bdsk'U]	10.un.s/cm5	dyn.s/cm5	k/watt	K/W	mm(hg)	mm[Hg]
(bsa)	{bsa}	cm_h20	cm[H20]	kg(body_wt)	kg{body_wt}	mm/hr	mm/h
(cal)	cal	cm_h20.s/L	cm[H20].s/L	kg/ms	kg/m2	mmol/(8.hr.kg)	mmol/(8.h.kg)
(cfu)	{cfu}	cm_h20/(s.m)	cm[H20]/(s.m)	kh/h	kg/h	mmol/(8hr)	mmol/(8.h)
(drop)	[drp]	dba	dB[SPL]	L/(8.hr)	L/(8.h)	mmol/(kg.hr)	mmol/(kg.h)
(ka_u)	[ka'U]	dm2/s2	REM	L/hr	L/h	mmol/hr	mmol/h
(kcal)	kcal	g(creat)	g{creat}	lb	[lb_av]	ng/(8.hr)	ng/(8.h)
(kcal)/(8.hr)	kcal/(8.h)	g(hgb)	g{hgb}			ng/(8.hr.kg)	ng/(8.h.kg)
(kcal)/d	kcal/d	g(tot_nit)	g{tit_nit}	m/s	ms/s	ng/(kg.hr)	ng/(kg.h)
(kcal)/hr	kcal/h	g(tot_prot)	g{tot_prot}	mas	Ms	ng/hr	ng/h
(knk_u)	[knk'U]	g(wet_tis)	g{wet_tis}	meq/(8.hr)	meq/(8.h)	osmol	osm
(mclg_u)	[mclg'U]	g.m/((hb).m2)	g.m/{hb}m2	meq/(8.hr.kg)	meq/(8.h.kg)	osmol/kg	osm/kg
(od)	{od}	g.m/(hb)	g.m/{hb}	meq/(kg.hr)	meq/(kg.h)	osmol/L	osm/L
(ph)	pH	g/(8.hr)	g/(8.h)	meq/hr	meq/h	pa	pA
(ppb)	[ppb]	g/(8.kg.hr)	g/(8.kg.h)	mg/(8.hr)	mg/(8.h)	pal	Pa
(ppm)	[ppm]	g/(kg.hr)	g/(kg.h)	mg/(8.hr.kg)	mg/(8.h.kg)	sec	''
(ppt)	[pptr]	g/hr	g/h	mg/(kg.hr)	mg/(kg.h)	sie	S
(ppth)	[ppth]	in	[in_us]	mg/hr	mg/h	ug(8hr)	ug(8.h)
(th_u)	[todd'U]	in_hg	[in_i'Hg]	miu/mL	m[iU]/mL	ug/(8.hr.kg)	ug/(8.h.kg)
/(arb_u)	/[arb'U]	iu	[iU]	mL/((hb).m2)	mL/{hb}.m2	ug/(kg.hr)	ug/(kg.h)
/(hpf)	[HPF]	iu/d	[iU]/d	mL/(8.hr)	mL/(8.h)	ug/hr	ug/h
/(tot)	/{tot}	iu/hr	[iU]/h	mL/(8.hr.kg)	mL/(8.h.kg)	uiu	u[iU]
/iu	/[iU]	iu/kg	[iU]/kg	mL/(hb)	mL/{hb}
10*3(rbc)	10*3{rbc}	iu/L	[iU]/L	mL/(kg.hr)	mL/(kg.h)
10.L	10.L/(min.m2)	iu/min	[iU]/min	mL/cm_h20	mL/cm[H20]

Units that are the same in ISO+ and UCUM
%	bar	g/L	L.s	mg	mmol/(kg.d)	ng/L	ueq
/kg	Bq	g/m2	L/(min.m2)	mg/(kg.d)	mmol/(kg.min)	ng/m2	ug
/L	cel	g/min	L/d	mg/(kg.min)	mmol/kg	ng/min	ug/(kg.d)
/m3	Cm	Gy	L/kg	mg/d	mmol/L	ng/mL	ug/(kg.min)
/min	cm2/s	h	L/min	mg/dL	mmol/m2	ng/s	ug/d
/m3	d	hL	L/s	mg/kg	mmol/min	nkat	ug/dL
/min	dB	J/L	lm	mg/L	mol/(kg.s)	nm	ug/g
/mL	deg	kat	m	mg/m2	mol/kg	nmol/s	ug/kg
1/mL	eq	kat/kg	m/s2	mg/m3	mol/L	ns	ug/L
10*12/L	eV	kat/L	m2	mg/min	mol/m3	Ohm	ug/m2
10*3/L		kg	m2/s	mL	mol/s	Ohm.m	ug/min
10*3/mL	fg	kg.m/s	m3/s	mL/(kg.d)	mosm/L	pg	ukat
10*3/mm3	fL	kg/(s.m2)	mbar	mL/(kg.min)	ms	pg/L	um
10*6/L	fmol	kg/L	mbar.s/L	mL/(min.m2)	mV	pg/mL	umol
10*6/mL	g	kg/m3	meq	mL/d		pkat	umol/d
10*6/mm3	g.m	kg/min	meq/(kg.d)	mL/kg		pm	umol/L
10*9/L	g/(kg.d)	kg/mol	meq/(kg.min)	mL/m2	ng	pmol	umol/min
10*9/mL	g/(kg.min)	kg/s	meq/d	mL/mbar	ng/(kg.d)	ps	us
10*9/mm3	g/d	kPa	meq/kg	mL/min	ng/(kg.min)	pt	uV
10.L/min	g/dL	ks	meq/L	mL/s	ng/d	Sv	V
a/m	g/kg	L	meq/min	mm	ng/kg	t	Wb

If you have corrections or comments, please post a response below.  I will make every attempt to keep these tables up to date and accurate.

Updated November 19, 2009:
Deleted mapping from ISO+ mm to UCUM to (transformation error)
Corrected mapping from ISO+ sec to UCUM '' (was ')
Updated October 20, 2010
Corrected mm(hg) to mm[Hg]
Changed oms/kg to osm/kg
verified mapping for mas (Megasecond according to HL7 V2) to Ms
deleted mapping from lm/m2 to lm
Still trying to resolve issues around (hb)
verified dm2/s2 = REM
Updated October 23, 2020
Fixed a number of problems with capitalization: Changed wb to Wb, v to V, uv to uV, sv to Sv, pAmp to pA, ohm to Ohm, mv to mV, kpa to kPa, gy to Gy, cel to Cel, bq to Bq and 8h to 8.h
Removed f, n because while these prefixes are the same, they aren't units by themselves
Removed n.s because the proper form is ns